You go to a supermarket. In the entranceway is a display table of the special foods of the week. You pick up the loaf of bread. You like bread. But there are a few slices missing from the bag. You don't buy this bread. You put it back down and curse the day the supermarket was built for wasting your precious time. (Maybe you don't get quite so mad. Hopefully.)
You are a product, much like a loaf of bread. Don't take offense- bread is awesome. But if you don't expect someone to buy a bag of bread with slices missing, why would you expect someone to take a chance on you if you aren't a worthy product?
Be something worth selling, whether that's in your career, or your personal life.
If you want a talent agent, get your headshot and resume ready, take acting classes, and get good at auditioning. Let them see you at your best.
If you want a literary agent, get your scripts (plural, not single) to their best quality, so the agent sees what they can make with you as a client.
If you want a girlfriend, love yourself, so she sees there's someone worth loving.
In the 3rd Grade, you could probably tell your teacher that you forgot your homework, and she wouldn't kick you out of school for it. But you're a grownup now, and you need to be prepared when you walk in the door.
When I first moved out to LA, I feel like I was asking people to help me with my career. I was asking the agent to sign me. I was asking the casting director to cast me. But when I walk into the supermarket, the store manager isn't asking me to buy the bread. I'll buy it, if I want it.
In business, be a product others look at as something they can profit financially from. In your personal life, be a person others look at as someone who can bring them joy.
You're not asking that agent to represent you.
You're not asking the girl to be your girlfriend.
They'll do it if they like what they see.
Offer them a product worth buying.